Chapter 2
Sarada dangled her legs over the edge of the cliff on which she sat; half contemplating to jump off for the cowardly stunt she had pulled off at the town square. How could I have thought of running away? She thought, appalled by the fear that consumed her when her father saw her on the stage with Boruto. Boruto.
God, she was hopeless. Terribly hopeless. She could knock out her sensei and could well talk back to the seventh without so much as a filter, but she couldn't face her father. She sighed sadly. She could see the entire village from up here; hokage mountain stood out in all its glory, with the seven carvings of the faces of Konoha's seven hokage on it. She still, wanted her face on it, after all those years, even though Boruto wanted nothing to do with it.
Boruto again, dammit! She pulled at the grass. What was she thinking, looking at him like that? Boruto was her friend not her-
Crush?
She wanted a wall to slam her head onto. She wanted to slam her head so hard she'd knock herself out. She wanted a minute out of consciousness to reconnect with her sanity. The skies rumbled farther ahead, with low peals of thunder and flashes of lightning. The wind picked up, becoming more violent. That was okay with her. The weights of her thoughts were sufficient to keep her from being blown away.
…
Sasuke stared out the balcony doors of his home. The party was still going on, but most of his friends, acquaintances and their families had gone home. Konoha had crazy youths; it was no secret that if there was a war, they'd still party amidst the chaos. It was going to rain soon, but nothing would bring Sarada home that night, he was sure, not after the way she ran off. He wondered how much of a negative effect he had on his daughter. He wasn't abusive, but he was no walk in the park either. He was a reserved person he knew, but he had done his best to give Sarada a proper Uchiha upbringing since he returned to Konoha. She trained extensively, studied extensively and practiced classical arts extensively, with no allowances for self indulgences save her mp3 player. He made sure she did a weekly meditative self evaluation and let her know that boys were a waste of everything till she reached the age of marriage. She was the perfect child, intelligent, confident, brilliant, skilled and disciplined. Even though he didn't allow for trivial outings with her peers if it wasn't a mission or a celebration over something worth celebrating-he classified few things as worth celebrating-she had no issue interacting with them and had a strong personality-a far cry from the adolescent Hinata Namikaze he knew growing up, who had been subjected to a similar upbringing in her own family.
So why was Sarada so afraid of him?
'She's not home Sasuke.'
'Hn.'
'She's going to get sick.'
'Sarada doesn't get sick Sakura.' He said automatically. The pink haired medic Nin let out a sigh of frustration.
'Sasuke, what do you think your daughter is, a programmed robot? Heck, robots fry up in the rain!' she snapped.
'Hn.'
'Sasuke!'
'I fail to see your point.'
'I'm talking about what happened at the party.'
'Still not seeing the point.'
Sakura sighed and went to stand in front of Sasuke. She held his face.
'You raised her to be a soldier. I see nothing wrong in that. I want her to be a soldier, but I wanted her to be a girl too.' She said quietly. 'Sarada doesn't know how to express herself. I think what she did tonight was because of Boruto. She's afraid of you disapproving her for the way she expresses herself-music.'
'She plays the grand piano.'
'Yeah, people use that to show off, but they didn't particularly enjoy learning it. I'm talking about the music she likes.'
'I allow her to us her mp3 playe-'
'-not enough Sasuke. Besides, she never listens to it in your presence. You always glare at her if you see her listening to it and sometimes you even seize her music player!'
Sasuke had no answer.
'Hn.'
She rolled her eyes.
'You never allowed Sarada to stay with her friends. You never allowed her to go to birthday parties or dates-'
'They weren't good enough for her.' Sasuke said suddenly. 'Those boys.'
'Jesus, Sasuke. She's my daughter. Do you think a guy can walk over her?'
'Yes and no. she may have your brutality, but she has your heart.'
'So what if she's a hopeless romantic-which we both know isn't true-she needs to learn to make herself stronger Sasuke. She needed to do it on her own. So she wouldn't miss it when the right one came.'
He let out a frustrated sigh and pinched his nose bridge.
'You mean Naruto's brat.'
'Boruto-yes. I do.' Sakura confirmed. 'Thank goodness all those years of military training didn't turn our daughter into a wreck of feelings Sasuke. You made her fear you and strive to please you. You made her vulnerable. You think she's strong and in many ways she is, but she is vulnerable all the same. She's vulnerable to pain and loss and suffering and love, because you deprived her right to self-expression. Someone sinister will eventually discover that vulnerability and when he does, and then you'll see a guy who isn't good enough for Sarada break her.'
Sasuke pulled away from her hands and looked at the floor.
'I was trying to make her strong and perfect. I wanted to protect her. She was so young then. She's stronger Sakura. I made her tough, I thought I did. I wanted to do so many things-'
'I know Sasuke.' Sakura kissed him and hugged him, her head on his chest. 'I know.'
Thunder crashed and she flinched.
'Sarada's out there.' she said quietly.
'She's fine.'
'You have to look for her.'
'She can look after herself. In many ways she's strong-'
'You were never there to hug her in the stormy nights of her childhood and you never comforted her for the wounds she got from her training and her missions.'
'I didn't want her to grow up a whiner.'
'You never showed care. You should let her know you care. Go after her.'
And so he did.
…
Boruto and Sasuke were so different in Sarada's mind. Sasuke was cold and dangerous. Boruto was all hot rage and flaring tempers. She remembered his disputes with the seventh, his father. He always refused to live for anyone but himself and he didn't demand anything more than their responsibility. He demanded his father to be there for his family and his friends to be loyal. After that, he was laid back. And God, no matter where he stood with you, he cared. He cared so much it hurt. She had watched him at the funeral of Hiashi Hyuuga. He held his sister and mother and let them cry on his shoulders throughout the service and he had not been afraid to cry in his father's arms. When her grandmother died and her eyes grew teary, her father scolded her and so she stood, holding her mother's shoulders as they shook from sobbing, like a statue. Her face was blank, since she had been told not to cry.
Affection and her father were strangers. Affection and Boruto were friends. They were the closest males in her life, the ones she trusted and cared for, but no matter how close, and Boruto had never been able to show her affection-save near death experiences-not till that night.
Tough girl, in the fast lane…
No time for love, no time for pain
The taste of ramen on her lips was strangely comforting. She shook her head, and buried it in her palms.
No drama, no time for games…
It started drizzling. With a sigh, she stood up.
'Sarada.'
Her heart stopped, and then she slowly clenched her fists.
'Dammit Sarada. Look at me, will you?'
'Go away.' She seethed. Her palms were bleeding, but she didn't care. Boruto flinched at the sight of it and ran towards her. In panic, she lost her footing and slipped, but he caught her before she could fall.
'Sarada!' he cried. She stared at him, bewildered. He was always such a pain in missions with his mother-hen personality towards his teammates. He always thought that everyone had to need him to defend them. Sarada didn't need him. She didn't want to need him.
'Boruto, leave me alone.' She demanded.
'I have no plans to attend your funeral, so no.' Boruto snorted with a smirk. His heart ached seeing her as someone different from his kick-ass kindergarten play-date. She was holding on to so much… so much was held up inside of her; so unwilling to share it with anyone else. How could someone be afraid of sharing? She had to break. She had to break out from the shell she put herself in-the shell of father-pleasing. He knew that shell all too well, and he didn't break out of it till he let everything out.
She screamed in frustration. Goddammit, why didn't he leave her alone? Why did he think it was normal to appear weak and vulnerable? Why did he think there was nothing wrong in showing how scared and alone one felt for others to see? What is wrong with him?
'Don't stop screaming, Sarada. Let it out. Let it all out.'
So she continued to scream and scream and scream… till she could taste her tears. Then her shoulders began to shake. Boruto pulled her up and she moved away from the edge before sinking into a ball and holding her face.
'What the hell is this?!' she yelled. 'I have no reason to cry, so why am I? This is so insane.'
'No its not.' Boruto said quietly. 'Sometimes crying relieves us, when there's only so much bull we can take from the world.'
Sarada stared at him, bewildered. He was so different from her father. So different…
'You hate it when people see you cry.' He said cautiously. 'So how come you can cry in front of me?'
Sarada did something crazy. She ran to him and hugged him, crying into his chest. He flinched in surprise, and then slowly held her to himself, all too aware of the bareness of her arms and the feel of her own body against his in embrace. Sarada felt it too, but for all it was worth, she felt relieved.
I can, because I know I'll be comforted and you won't see me any less than I am.
I don't care if I don't look pretty…
'Big girls cry when their hearts are breaking.' She sang softly to herself than in reply to him. She held him tightly.
